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3 Apr 2009
Jakarta
When choosing a restaurant, consumers around the world say they are most likely to base their decision on the type of cuisine served, and more than one quarter (27%) opt for their local cuisine over international fare when dining out, a global survey by research company, Nielsen, has revealed.
One third (33%) of global consumers say the type of cuisine served is their main consideration when choosing a restaurant, while reasonably priced food is their second consideration (24%).
Chart 1: Main two considerations when choosing a restaurant (Global)
For Indonesian online consumers, the type of cuisine served is also their main consideration in making restaurant choice (44%) with price also the second most important consideration (25%).
Chart 2: Main two considerations when choosing a restaurant (Indonesia)
Asked what their favourite fare was when dining out, consumers the world over said their preference was for local cuisine (27%), while traditional international favourites Chinese and Italian were close runners up (26% and 17% respectively). The only exceptions were the Australians and Singaporeans who nominated Chinese as their favourite cuisine above their local fare; Hong Kong, where consumers’ first preference was for Japanese cuisine, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) whose preferred cuisine was Indian (34%), although preferences in Singapore and UAE are likely driven by ethnicity, with Singapore’s population made up of 75 percent Chinese and UAE around 50 percent South Asian.
Chart 3: Preferred cuisine type (Global)
In Indonesia, local cuisine is the clear favourite (59%) followed by the Chinese (23%) and Japanese (19%) cuisine as their secondary favourites. “So, we buck the rwginal trend somewhat with such a strong preference for local cuisine” said Catherine.
Chart 4: Preferred cuisine type (Indonesia)
However, the most patriotic restaurant-goers globally were the Italians, with 92 percent saying they preferred their local cuisine, followed by consumers in Turkey (82%) and India (81%).
The majority of global consumers (44%) dine out between one and three times per week, although as many as 38 percent only enjoy a meal out-of-home once a month or less. Consumers in the Asia Pacific dined out more frequently than consumers in other regions, particularly in Hong Kong where nearly one third (31%) ate at restaurants every day. In contrast, Europeans were the least likely to venture out for a meal – more than half (56%) said they dined in restaurants once or less than once per month.
Exactly in line with the global findings, 44% of online survey participants in Indonesia claimed to dine out between one and three times per week with only 5% eating at a restaurant every day.
“The frequency of out-of-home dining in different countries very much reflects local cultures,” observes Ms. Catherine Eddy, Executive Director, Consumer Research, The Nielsen Company Indonesia. “While many Asian countries place emphasis on out-of-home socialising, the European culture is more focused on sharing a meal around the family table. However, the survey findings also provide insight into where the main impact of the global financial meltdown has been felt, with Europeans more likely to be tightening their belts and curbing their out-of-home entertainment, while Asia has been less affected.”
Dinner is by far the most popular out-of-home meal with around 60 percent of consumers saying their most common meal eaten at a restaurant is the evening meal (similar to Indonesia at 61%). This was consistent across most of the world’s regions with the exception of Latin America where lunch is the main meal of the day – 73 percent of Latin Americans said lunch was the most likely meal to be eaten in a restaurant.
Asked which day of the week they most often ate in a restaurant, Saturday was the clear favourite with 37 percent of consumers indicating this as their preferred day for out-of-home dining. And around the world, consumers were most likely to enjoy a restaurant meal with family and friends (55%), while a further 27 percent said they most often dined out with their partners.
Indonesians are also most often eating out at restaurants on Saturday (43%) and most often going with family and friends (58%) and with their partners (21%).
About The Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey
The Nielsen Global Online Survey is the largest half-yearly survey of its kind, aimed at gauging current confidence levels, spending habits/intentions and current major concerns of consumers across the globe. The latest survey, conducted from September 22 to October 6, 2008, polled over 26,000 internet users in 52 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and the Middle East.
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